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| [ Engrossed ] | [ Enrolled ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
91_SB0315
LRB9100843DHmg
1 AN ACT to amend the Counties Code by changing Section
2 3-3013.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 5. The Counties Code is amended by changing
6 Section 3-3013 as follows:
7 (55 ILCS 5/3-3013) (from Ch. 34, par. 3-3013)
8 Sec. 3-3013. Preliminary investigations; blood and urine
9 analysis; summoning jury. Every coroner, whenever, as soon as
10 he knows or is informed that the dead body of any person is
11 found, or lying within his county, whose death is suspected
12 of being:
13 (a) A sudden or violent death, whether apparently
14 suicidal, homicidal or accidental, including but not limited
15 to deaths apparently caused or contributed to by thermal,
16 traumatic, chemical, electrical or radiational injury, or a
17 complication of any of them, or by drowning or suffocation,
18 or as a result of domestic violence as defined in the
19 Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986;
20 (b) A maternal or fetal death due to abortion, or any
21 death due to a sex crime or a crime against nature;
22 (c) A death where the circumstances are suspicious,
23 obscure, mysterious or otherwise unexplained or where, in the
24 written opinion of the attending physician, the cause of
25 death is not determined;
26 (d) A death where addiction to alcohol or to any drug
27 may have been a contributory cause; or
28 (e) A death where the decedent was not attended by a
29 licensed physician;
30 shall go to the place where the dead body is, and take charge
31 of the same and shall make a preliminary investigation into
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1 the circumstances of the death. In the case of death without
2 attendance by a licensed physician the body may be moved with
3 the coroner's consent from the place of death to a mortuary
4 in the same county. Coroners in their discretion shall
5 notify such physician as is designated in accordance with
6 Section 3-3014 to attempt to ascertain the cause of death,
7 either by autopsy or otherwise.
8 In cases of accidental death involving a motor vehicle in
9 which the decedent was (1) the operator or a suspected
10 operator of a motor vehicle, or (2) a pedestrian 16 years of
11 age or older, the coroner shall require that a blood specimen
12 of at least 30 cc., and if medically possible a urine
13 specimen of at least 30 cc. or as much as possible up to 30
14 cc., be withdrawn from the body of the decedent within 6
15 hours of the accident causing his death, by such physician as
16 has been designated in accordance with Section 3-3014, or by
17 the coroner or deputy coroner or a qualified person at the
18 direction of such physician. If the county does not maintain
19 laboratory facilities for making such analysis, the blood and
20 urine so drawn shall be sent to the Department of State
21 Police for analysis, when necessary, of the alcohol, carbon
22 monoxide, and dangerous or narcotic drug content of such
23 blood and urine specimens. Each specimen submitted shall be
24 accompanied by pertinent information concerning the decedent
25 upon a form prescribed by such Department. If the analysis
26 is performed in county laboratory facilities, the coroner
27 shall forward the results of each analysis and pertinent
28 information concerning the decedent to the Department of
29 Public Health upon a form prescribed by such Department. The
30 coroner causing the blood and urine to be withdrawn shall be
31 notified of the results of any analysis made by the
32 Department of State Police and the Department of Public
33 Health shall keep a record of the results of all such
34 examinations to be used for statistical purposes. The
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1 cumulative results of the examinations, without identifying
2 the individuals involved, shall be disseminated and made
3 public by the Department of Public Health. Any person
4 drawing blood and urine and any person making any examination
5 of the blood and urine under the terms of this Division shall
6 be immune from all liability, civil or criminal, that might
7 otherwise be incurred or imposed. The coroner shall be paid
8 a fee of $10 by the Department of Public Health for each
9 acceptable set of blood and urine specimens sent to the
10 Department of State Police forensic science laboratory
11 accompanied by the required form or for each report of
12 analysis performed by a county laboratory furnished upon the
13 required form. Upon collection, the coroner shall pay the fee
14 over to the county treasurer for deposit in the general fund
15 of the county.
16 In all other cases coming within the jurisdiction of the
17 coroner and referred to in subparagraphs (a) through (e)
18 above, blood, and whenever possible, urine samples shall be
19 analyzed for the presence of alcohol and other drugs. When
20 the coroner suspects that drugs may have been involved in the
21 death, either directly or indirectly, a toxicological
22 examination shall be performed which may include analyses of
23 blood, urine, bile, gastric contents and other tissues. When
24 the coroner suspects a death is due to toxic substances,
25 other than drugs, the coroner shall consult with the
26 toxicologist prior to collection of samples. Information
27 submitted to the toxicologist shall include information as to
28 height, weight, age, sex and race of the decedent as well as
29 medical history, medications used by and the manner of death
30 of decedent.
31 Except in counties that have a jury commission, in cases
32 of apparent suicide, homicide, or accidental death or in
33 other cases, within the discretion of the coroner, the
34 coroner shall summon 8 persons of lawful age from those
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1 persons drawn for petit jurors in the county. The summons
2 shall command these persons to present themselves personally
3 at such a place and time as the coroner shall determine, and
4 may be in any form which the coroner shall determine and may
5 incorporate any reasonable form of request for
6 acknowledgement which the coroner deems practical and
7 provides a reliable proof of service. The summons may be
8 served by first class mail. From the 8 persons so summoned,
9 the coroner shall select 6 to serve as the jury for the
10 inquest. Inquests may be continued from time to time, as the
11 coroner may deem necessary. The 6 jurors selected in a given
12 case may view the body of the deceased. If at any
13 continuation of an inquest one or more of the original jurors
14 shall be unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill
15 the vacancy or vacancies. A juror serving pursuant to this
16 paragraph shall receive compensation from the county at the
17 same rate as the rate of compensation that is paid to petit
18 or grand jurors in the county. The coroner shall furnish to
19 each juror without fee at the time of his discharge a
20 certificate of the number of days in attendance at an
21 inquest, and, upon being presented with such certificate, the
22 county treasurer shall pay to the juror the sum provided for
23 his services.
24 In counties which have a jury commission, in cases of
25 apparent suicide or homicide or of accidental death, the
26 coroner shall, and in other cases in his discretion may,
27 conduct an inquest. The jury commission shall provide at
28 least 8 jurors to the coroner, from whom the coroner shall
29 select any 6 to serve as the jury for the inquest. Inquests
30 may be continued from time to time as the coroner may deem
31 necessary. The 6 jurors originally chosen in a given case
32 may view the body of the deceased. If at any continuation of
33 an inquest one or more of the 6 jurors originally chosen
34 shall be unable to continue to serve, the coroner shall fill
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1 the vacancy or vacancies. At the coroner's discretion,
2 additional jurors to fill such vacancies shall be supplied by
3 the jury commission. A juror serving pursuant to this
4 paragraph in such county shall receive compensation from the
5 county at the same rate as the rate of compensation that is
6 paid to petit or grand jurors in the county.
7 Death certificates shall list the cause of death as
8 domestic violence (as defined in the Illinois Domestic
9 Violence Act of 1986) if that finding is medically justified.
10 In addition, in every case in which domestic violence is
11 determined to be the cause of death, the coroner shall report
12 the death to the Department of State Police.
13 All deaths in State institutions and all deaths of wards
14 of the State in private care facilities or in programs funded
15 by the Department of Human Services under its powers relating
16 to mental health and developmental disabilities or alcoholism
17 and substance abuse or funded by the Department of Children
18 and Family Services shall be reported to the coroner of the
19 county in which the facility is located. If the coroner has
20 reason to believe that an investigation is needed to
21 determine whether the death was caused by maltreatment or
22 negligent care of the ward of the State, the coroner may
23 conduct a preliminary investigation of the circumstances of
24 such death as in cases of death under circumstances set forth
25 in paragraphs (a) through (e) of this Section.
26 (Source: P.A. 89-507, eff. 7-1-97.)